Reset Your Goals

Covid-19 means things have changed, but they are always changing. 

The only constant is change.

If you have a business plan then I suggest you take time to re-examine your goals and plans for the year ahead.  

Instead of letting those previous plans linger and create a cloud of negativity, nip them in the bud right now.

What Impact does COVID-19  have on the Vision you have for the business?

I regard the Busines Vision as the end goal.

The the end goal is what the business would look like with unlimited resources and potential. 

It can also be the outcome of the business when you no longer want to run it. There are only 3 options here; sell it, close it, pass it on

If your long vision is a 10 year plan, then 3-6 months of business disruption accounts for 2.5 to 5% of the time available to make that vision a reality. So unless the current situation changes it isn’t going to make much difference to the long Term Vision.

What Impact does COVID-19 have on the Business Goals?

I regard Business Goals as the things you need to do to achieve the Vision. Without the Vision there can be no goals, without goals you can not win in the game of business.

Goals are mid term plans typically 3 years but they can be up to 5 years. But things are changing fast so I would suggest 3 years. This makes 3 mid terms plus one year to achieve your goals. The odd year adds some flexibility to your plan. In case of a pandemic or the such like. 

Business Goals are much more specific than the Vision, they include the required turnover, profit, number of employees, roles and responsibilities. Basically the framework of how you will achieve your Vision.

Depending on where you are in your current planning cycle will result in different strategies for amending your Business Goals. You can;

  1. Take the pragmatic approach and use your spare year 
  2. Scrap your current Goals and start again
  3. Continue to try achieve what you have set out to achieve

There is no right or wrong, it’s your business, you have to decide what is best for your current situation.

What Impact does COVID-19 have on my Action Plan?

I regard the Action Plan as the 10 most important things need to do this year to achieve your Business Goals. Without Specific Business Goals you simply can not have an Action Plan.

This is the point where you must start making changes.

As the Action Plan consists of no more than 10 things you must make happen in the next 12 months it is going to be compromised. Furthermore the Action Plan is broken down into  Quarters.

These 90 day blocks allow you to ‘chunk’ the mission into bite size tasks called Rocks.

The quarterly objectives or ‘Rocks’ are big things that must belong to someone who is responsible for achieving them. 

Issues or ‘sand’ are smaller things you identify along the way, they still need to get done or they quickly turn into rocks. 

List the 5 ‘Rocks’ (big things) you simply must do, by when, by whom, to get through the next 90 days. This will identify the ‘Sand’ smaller things that also need doing and creates a Plan of Action to enable you to survive.

Committing these in the form of a written plan means you are far more likely to achieve your


If you want to read more on the subject of effective business planning then I recommend reading Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman.


Measure what matters because what gets measured gets managed, and what gets scheduled gets sorted.

I suggest you do what needs doing now, then think about your Vision, then your Goals the rest starts to take care of itself.